Greenland icesheet could melt faster

SCIENTISTS yesterday said they could no longer rule out a fast-track melting of the Greenland icesheet — a prospect that would see much of the world’s coastline drowned by rising seas.

The researchers found that the great Laurentide icesheet that smothered much of North America during the last Ice Age melted far swifter than realised, dumping billions of tonnes of water into the ocean. …

The discovery raises worrying questions about the future stability of Greenland’s icesheet, for the Laurentide melt occurred thanks to a spurt of warming that could be mirrored once more by the end of this century, they said.

Although scientists are confident Antarctica has so far escaped major damage from global warming, they are less sure about Greenland, whose icesheet holds enough water to drive up sea levels by seven metres.- theage

Artificial clouds to reflect away sunlight, creating colossal blooms of oceanic algae, and the global use of synthetic carbon-neutral transport fuels – just three of the climate-transforming technologies in need of urgent investigation, according to leading scientists. The group argues that, with governments failing to grasp the urgent need for measures to combat dangerous climate change, radical – and possibly dangerous – solutions must now be seriously considered. – guarduk